1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a diverter spout and more specifically to an improvement in a diverter spout valve member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A diverter spout is a conventional bathroom fixture which is usually mounted above a bathtub for diverting the flow of water away from the spout to an overhead shower fixture by a simple raising or lowering of a valve member. One type of diverter spout includes corrosion resistant metal housing and has a diverter valve mechanism mounted therein adjacent the fluid input end of the spout. The diverter valve mechanism includes a pressure chamber having an inlet and an outlet, with a movable valve member at least partially disposed within the pressure chamber being selectively actuatable to open and close the outlet of the pressure chamber.
An improved diverter spout construction that has heretofore been employed by applicant's assignee is shown in Bastian U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,197, dated Apr. 27, 1971. In the Bastian structure, the pressure chamber is formed of integrally molded plastic components. However, it was not possible to replace the heavy metal valve member in this type of diverter valve with an inexpensive plastic counterpart, because the weight of the metal valve member was necessary to hold the valve in an open position during the normal operation of the spout. In this type of diverter valve, the valve member normally is disposed beneath the outlet when water is permitted to flow through the spout, with the valve member being raised to cover the outlet opening when water is to be diverted from the bathtub spout to the shower fixture. When the valve member is raised, the water pressure forces the valve member against the outlet of the pressure chamber with sufficient force to hold the valve member in its raised position. When the water is turned off, the weight of the valve member causes the valve to fall downwardly to its open position, thus automatically reopening the spout when the shower is turned off.
Attempts have been made heretofore to make the heavy metal valve member from a light weight plastic material. However, with such designs water turbulence resulting from water flowing through the spout results in an upward force on the valve member that causes the valve member to automatically rise undesirably to a closed or semi-closed position during normal operation of the spout. This impairs the flow of liquid through the diverter spout and causes a diverting action when none is desired.